Crack Pie – Daring Bakers Challenge June 2013

Rachael from pizzarossa was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie!

What a range of pies we were able to choose from this month! I absolutely love my mum’s apple crumble, and love anything with pastry, so was extremely excited. The only difficulty was choosing.

I had never heard about a “Crack Pie” before, although the description certainly sold it, and when I started researching I found out the recipe was from Christina Tosi from Momofuku Milk Bar in New York (although I did find other recipes also saying it was from Monofuku, with some differences in quantities, so I am unsure which is correct).

I made the oat cookie base the night before making the pie, and when I was crumbling it by hand the next night, I wished I had taken out my food processor – it would have sped up the process (which is important when you are making pizza for dinner at the same time).

When pressing the cookie mixture into my pie dish, I thought it looked like too much mixture, so split the mixture and placed some of it in a loaf tin. When I started added the filling, I thought I probably could have fit it all in the pie dish – although added it to the loaf tin as well. Make sure you double check the temperature of your oven and check very regularly (I left mine in for 25 minutes and burnt part of the edge of the pie – plus the one in the loaf tin). I had turned my oven down after cooking the pizza, although it held the heat more than expected.

Now for the taste – a very rich and caramel flavour with a lovely texture. Very moreish, although a bit sweet to eat too much. I wish it had been a bit higher, perhaps I should have used all the crust and filling – even when I thought it was too much – or perhaps I need a higher pie dish 🙂

2. Combine 6 tablespoons (85 gm) of the softened butter, 4 tablespoons (50 gm) of the brown sugar and the white sugar in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

7. Using your fingertips, crumble the cookie a into large bowl – there should be no identifiable pieces of cookie remaining. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons (45 gm) butter and 1-1/2 tablespoons (20 gm) brown sugar. Rub in with your fingertips until the mixture is moist and sticks together when pressed between your fingers.

8. Transfer cookie crust mixture to pie dish. Using your fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish (about 1 inch/2.5cm up the sides if your pie dish is deep). If your pie dish is shallow, place it on a baking sheet in case of overflow.

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4. If possible, use bottom-only heat, or the filling may brown too quickly.

2. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

3. Add melted butter and whisk until blended.

4. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended.

5. Pour filling into crust.

6. Bake 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble up). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3. Continue to bake until filling is brown on top and set around edges but center still jiggles slightly, about 20 minutes longer.

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About Me…

Baking is my passion, a passion best shared with others.

I live in Sydney, Australia, close to family and friends and love a good meal and chat. Desserts, cakes and all things sweet attract my attention... that's why I always leave room for dessert... Read more about me